‘It’s liberating’: Raiders DT uses green thumb when he’s not sacking QBs

Adam Butler has made a name for himself during his three seasons with the Raiders.

The defensive tackle has 112 tackles and 10 sacks in 40 games with the franchise, which earned him a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension in March. The deal gave Butler the security he’s been seeking since joining the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

The 31-year-old played three of his eight NFL seasons on one-year contracts. But he earned a larger payday after starting a career-high 16 games last season and recording 65 tackles and five sacks.

Butler is now a staple in the starting lineup and a leader in the Raiders’ locker room.

There’s more to Butler, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 301 pounds, than meets the eye, however. He’s been an avid gardener throughout his college and NFL career.

He retreats back to his home state of Texas and a garden that covers a full acre each offseason.

Butler sat down with the Review-Journal this week to talk about his hobby:

RJ: Did you grow up with the green thumb at all, or was it an acquired interest?

Butler: It was my granddad — he grew up gardening — showing us how to plant.

RJ: What about it appealed to you?

Butler: I mean, I grew up in a Baptist household. And I would say there’s nothing that tastes like organic, fresh vegetables. Nothing does. Like, when I go to the store and I get an apple or something off the shelf, you can feel the wax on it. You can feel that it’s not organic. It’s not the same. When you grow it on your own and you put your own time and effort into it, it’s not only just great, but it’s liberating.

RJ: So what exactly do you grow?

Butler: A ton. But it depends on the season. Right now, my wife is doing it, but she’s planting brassica, so leafy greens.

Then I do the spring collections. Watermelon, squash, tomatoes, things like that.

RJ: It must create some peace of mind for you knowing that if something happened, you’d be able to feed your family

Butler: That’s why I said it’s liberating, you know? And it’s empowering knowing that you have that power.

RJ: What sort of time commitment are we talking about?

Butler: It’s very time consuming, I’m not gonna lie. It depends on how many plants I grow, you know? But it can take me half a day to get to everything. Especially if I’ve got to fertilize or prune and stuff like that. It can take a while.

RJ: It just feels like patience is required.

Butler: It does take patience because, I mean, if you don’t do things right you lose the year you could have had.

RJ: What’s your favorite thing to grow?

Butler: Potatoes.

RJ: Oh, really?

Butler: Yeah, I love it. Potatoes are my favorite thing because you just never know how many you’re going to get, right? Like most of the other vegetables, you can see above the ground and see what you’re going to get. But potatoes, you just never know how much you get.

RJ: Are you self-taught?

Butler: Well, my granddad taught me, and then I went to school for environmental science (at Vanderbilt). So I learned a lot of things about agricultural plants. Because there’s a lot of different kinds.

RJ: How about here in Las Vegas? Is it easy to grow?

Butler: No, that’s hard to do. (Something) in a pot, but nothing major.

RJ: How far do you want to go with this?

Butler: It’s something I’m going to pass down to my kids.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.